I always kind of wondered, "wouldn't fire pokemon just burn down everything around them all the time?"

I thought more about it, and came up with a small theory. I imagine that most of the time, fire pokemon avoid setting fire to their surroundings to preserve their homes, food, and hiding places. But every once in a very long time, a forest grows too old and too thick, and too many plants at the bottom layers die. This is when fire pokemon get a strong instinctual urge to burn it down, to allow for a new generation of plants to grow.

Some coniferous trees here in Canada only reproduce that way- their pine cones stay glued shut and only fire cracks them open to spread new seeds.

Aaahhh i'm loving that background! It actually reminds me of the old Japanese tale of demon/spirit fires which makes it doubly cool because Vulpix and Ninetales are based on the monster foxes that are also associated with them

That theory is not really far away. One description of Flareon says that the body temperature of this creature can go up to 1600 degrees. That's enough to melt steel. Don't pet them! However, here are some places in north america with the same bio system. Every season whole landscapes are burning but that doesn't harm the bigger trees. The only problem is that men have pervented this conflagrations for years. The result: if there is a fire, it's enourmous and out of any kind of control.

But back to your work. This Vulpix is adorable. I like the glare in his eye and the shadow in the fur.